Set to fail??

[becauseimnew]

Hi everyone!
This will be my second pre-trip report. My first was under another username - no one IRL needs to be able to search my name and find how obsessed I am with Disney.
So hello everyone! Because I’m New, let me introduce you to the fam!
This is us over Thanksgiving break celebrating our girls’ birthdays, they both have November birthdays.
We spent 5 ridiculously fun days at USO.


I’ll be your travel planner for this trip. I work for the city in which we live. I’m the numbers person in our department, not an accountant - they do weird math, more of a budget person; we deal with actuals.
I’ve been planning yearly Disney trips since 2014, this year we are surprising our girls (it is getting more difficult to surprise them) because our friends are joining us and they are surprising their kids.

That’s me. I like to get up at 4:45AM to run, although we’ve had such a cold winter that I switch to weight training, I ran my first and only marathon at Disney World in 2019, I love taking pictures, and using exclamation points!

DH LOVES our Disney trips, he doesn’t want to be involved in the process at all so he leaves all the decision (good or bad) making to me. We took 4 family vacations last year and he had zero input, he trust that we’ll have a good time.
We are raising two travel addicts, DD1 is in 7th grade and already spent 2 months in Spain on an exchange program. She came home a few days ago with information for 2 travel programs for next school year.
DD2 loves to watch travel vlogs, she requested her senior trip be to Antartica. DH and I will each need 2nd and 3rd jobs to pay for their travel aspirations.

Let’s see, what else can I tell you about us? We have 2 dogs and a cat, their names all start with O, there is Oscar, Ollie, & Ozzy. We’ve taken 3 family trips to Disney World, 2 to Disneyland & one Disney Cruise. Oh yeah, you’ll mostly find me over on the credit card thread, we pay for all our lodging and airfare with credit card points.

Now the details:
When - August
Why - we love Disney and our friends asked to join us this year.
Where - Yacht Club
The biggest change for this trip is that our friends will be joining us. They are a family of 5, their oldest boy and DD1 have been in school together since kindergarten. Their only daughter and DD2 have been BFFs since pre-K, and they have a 1st grade boy. We have been traveling together for several years, but they have never been to DW, well the dad went once when he was 19.
I feel lots of pressure to plan the perfect vacation for them, they insist this is going to be their one-and-done trip, my goal is to make them Disney lovers.

We have 3 things working against me:
1. We are going in August (not their first choice), they would have rather pulled the kids out of school in May but that wouldn’t work for our family. Both our girls get super stressed when they miss too much school and have a lot of work to catch-up on. June & July are just too busy for both families. So August it is
2. The dad really wanted to stay in a 1-bedroom but our girls have really sold them on Stormalong Bay so we had stuck with YC. We talked about renting points and staying at BCVs but during these times I really don’t want to risk losing $2,000+ on a rental. Another option we consider is Riviera Resort, but that resort is excluded from the military discount.
3. COVID - I don’t think I need to explain this one.

Welcome to my trip report, I’m going to need lots of help planning the perfect trip.

 

[DLo]

Following along. Looking forward to reading more.

 

[buzzrelly]

Sounds fun!

We'll be at the BCV August 8-15! We aren't crazy about August either but with Covid and everyone's schedules, it what worked. I'm sure we'll be spending a LOT of time at SAB

 

[becauseimnew]

Following along. Looking forward to reading more.

yay! my first follower! Thanks for following along.

Sounds fun!

We'll be at the BCV August 8-15! We aren't crazy about August either but with Covid and everyone's schedules, it what worked. I'm sure we'll be spending a LOT of time at SAB

We went that same week in 2019, we had an awesome time. Since we had been a few times we took it much slower. Woke up early, left at noon to nap, had a nice sit down dinner and returned to the parks when it was a tad bit cooler.

 

[becauseimnew]

Let the planning begin!

Since we are still 5 months away from our trip there isn't much actual planning going on, but I miss the planning! I love my spreadsheets.

Here's the thing we have park tickets but haven't made park reservations, our friends haven't linked their reservation to their Disney account. I've asked them to do it a couple of time but they don't see the rush. I do know that I want to make sure we have our park reservations done in May so that we can make ADRs, I'll start bugging them in May. I'm worried about ADRs, first because we are a party of 9, so getting ADRs for groups that large is impossible. Second the other family has some picky eaters, but that's not too much of a problem because Disney has nuggets and burgers at most locations.

I've been reading the "Here now & just got back" thread and also keeping an eye on the Park Availability calendar trying to plan for the best strategy.

Park Day Plan:
Sunday: Magic Kingdom - can't wait until we get to take a wif of Main Street, best smell in the world.
Monday: Animal Kingdom - maybe we'll try Tiffins Bread Service at Nomad Lounge
Tuesday: Hollywood Studios - side story: we went to Disneyland Feb 2020, my family was able to ride RotR 4 times during our 4 days. I was at a work conference so I only rode it twice.
Wednesday: Rest Day - we are renting a cabana and they boys are going golfing,
Thursday: Hollywood Studios -
Friday: Magic Kingdom
Saturday/checkout day Animal Kingdom (my family plans to fly back home on Monday - we are going to hop over to the dark side for Volcano Bay - DH's favorite park)

I bet you are asking yourself, wait when are they going to Epcot. I had originally planned on Tuesday being our Epcot day, but after much thought I think we'll just park hop over to Epcot in the evenings - unless Ratatouille is running - if that's the case we'll make our departure day our Epcot day.

Here is where I need help, I know I read somewhere that Disney isn't allowing large parties to dine together. We are a party of 9, does that mean that we can't dine together at all? I know the max reservation at most places is 8... what do we do???

Speaking of ADRs. I've come up with a short list of ADRs.
Homecomin'
Story Book Dining - Our DDs' favorite - fingers cross they open
Beaches & Cream
California Grill
Skipper Canteen
Sanaa - probably just our family
Topolino's Terrace - maybe on arrival day?
Via Napoli
Nomad Lounge - I know it isn't a TS but would love to try it out.

Okay so maybe not such a short list, but we do like to have one TS a day.

Another big question, we'll have two 13YOs with us. At what age do you let your kids go to the park on their own? They both have cell phones, I think Disney is really safe and our 13YO is really responsible. I'm thinking this might be a good chance to give her a little freedom and let the teens go to Epcot, how much trouble can they really cause?

 

[WNYDisneyDad]

Another big question, we'll have two 13YOs with us. At what age do you let your kids go to the park on their own? They both have cell phones, I think Disney is really safe and our 13YO is really responsible. I'm thinking this might be a good chance to give her a little freedom and let the teens go to Epcot, how much trouble can they really cause?

That's a great question but I think you can only answer that! As a father to a soon to be 13 year old son (ok, in 6 months, but I digress), I would not hesitate to send my own kid on his own to a public place that he knows well, as long as he is comfortable with it. As you said, Disney is really safe and they would never be far away from "help" if they needed it.

It would also depend greatly on the other family and their comfort level, but I see no issues as long as everyone is on board.

I also assume that you, your husband, and your friends are all comfortable with them being off on their own with someone of the opposite sex. Not that I'm insinuating anything, but I know from my own parenting experience where I forget that my kid has raging hormones. I mean no offense (seriously), just bringing it up as something to also consider for a parent trying to make that decision.

 

[becauseimnew]

That's a great question but I think you can only answer that! As a father to a soon to be 13 year old son (ok, in 6 months, but I digress), I would not hesitate to send my own kid on his own to a public place that he knows well, as long as he is comfortable with it. As you said, Disney is really safe and they would never be far away from "help" if they needed it.

It would also depend greatly on the other family and their comfort level, but I see no issues as long as everyone is on board.

I also assume that you, your husband, and your friends are all comfortable with them being off on their own with someone of the opposite sex. Not that I'm insinuating anything, but I know from my own parenting experience where I forget that my kid has raging hormones. I mean no offense (seriously), just bringing it up as something to also consider for a parent trying to make that decision.

Honestly, I don't think any of us would be worried about them in that sense. DD finds him annoying most of the time because he likes to mouth off, I'm more worried about him getting in an argument with someone. Unlike his parents and siblings, he isn't sweet and respectful.

Gosh, teens are difficult. Why do they have to grow up so fast?
Just look at them during our first Disney Trip

And last summer at Zion and Disneyland Feb 2020 - they are so big

 

[WNYDisneyDad]

Honestly, I don't think any of us would be worried about them in that sense.

Beautiful family! And they sure do grow up fast

 

[DL1WDW2]

I tried to allow my 2 grandchildren 13 & 11, last NYE as I waited near LTT bench and they went off to HM in dark and then Big Thunder..
.I admit I secretly followed them the entire way....
I also would not let them have freedom this NYE walking from MK toBLT because of the dark and the parking lot pathway. So I guess it depends on the definition of “staying on property” . WDW has specific protocol for Cast to be alert for children in danger... and one of the reasons they enter guest rooms.

 

[becauseimnew]

I tried to allow my 2 grandchildren 13 & 11, last NYE as I waited near LTT bench and they went off to HM in dark and then Big Thunder..
.I admit I secretly followed them the entire way....
I also would not let them have freedom this NYE walking from MK toBLT because of the dark and the parking lot pathway. So I guess it depends on the definition of “staying on property” . WDW has specific protocol for Cast to be alert for children in danger... and one of the reasons they enter guest rooms.

I was thinking about just letting them go do a few rides at Epcot, we are staying at the Yacht Club. Maybe even HS, but that's a really far walk.

I also have find my phone on. I'm a stalker.

 

[becauseimnew]

Have I mentioned that I'm the queen of resort modifications?

I'm never happy with my reservations. Let's visit our previous trip: We started out with a 7-night stay at Caribbean Beach Resort reservation. Then I asked the family where they would like to stay, I really shouldn't take request. Girls said BC/YC, we had done a 1-night stay during the previous trip. DH said Contemporary CL, we took a adults only weekend trip in Dec 2018 received some Pixie Dust and were upgraded to TPV CL. It was magical.

After taking all their request and looking at our budget, I came up with this crazy 3-way-split-stay. In order to afford all their request, we started with 3 nights at Pop Century, I was really praying that the gondolas would be running by then - if you remember they went through months and months of testing, we witness them running but they didn't open for a couple of months after our trip. After 3 long park days, we took a rest day and what better place then at the Yacht Club, but not just a regular room, we stayed Club level. Our friends happen to be staying at the BCV during that same time so we got to spend some time with them. We only did two nights there, because money doesn't grow on trees. And finally, I fulfilled DH's request and we moved over to the Contemporary for our final 3 nights - where he woke up to celebrate his birthday and have brunch at California Grill before our departure. I think that has been our best trip yet. We had a CL stay, brunch at CG, attended HS EMM, attended the first MNSSHP of the year and did Cruella's Hideaway (a disappointment). Oh the good ol' days. There is no way we'll ever top that trip.

Back to the current trip.
We started with a 7 night stay at the Yacht Club, water view. I was not happy spending $3,200 on a room, but they didn't have any standard rooms. A few weeks later they announced that the BC would be opening in late May, I called and was able to change over to a standard view room saving almost $700. As much as my wallet wanted me to stay in a standard view room at the BC, I knew that I couldn't risk not having a balcony, DH and I like to sit out there and drink some wine after our long days. Thankfully, garden view rooms opened up at the YC and I waited the on hold for 90 minutes to make the change back to YC - this time Garden view, it was only $170 more than our rooms at the BC. And I was happy, or so I thought.

Then this morning I see the new Poly rooms and I fell in love! The coffee bar area has my whole heart. Love Hei Hei

So I did what any resort-hopping junkie does and switched our last 2 nights over.
And with that my friends, I end my constant search for the perfect reservations. I think our friends will never let me plan another vacation if I make any more changes, this is our 4th year of vacationing together and I think we travel well together and I want to keep traveling with friends.

 

[Where'sPiglet?]

The pictures of the new rooms at the Polynesian look amazing to me, and I love the grounds and ambiance of the Poly and the castle view from the pool.

I am chuckling at the thought of seeing Hei Hei and those big eyes pre-coffee in the mornings, though!

It sounds like you have a good trip planned, and I also love Yacht Club and Storm Along Bay.

 

[kclark9830]

Joining in!

 

[becauseimnew]

The pictures of the new rooms at the Polynesian look amazing to me, and I love the grounds and ambiance of the Poly and the castle view from the pool.

I am chuckling at the thought of seeing Hei Hei and those big eyes pre-coffee in the mornings, though!

It sounds like you have a good trip planned, and I also love Yacht Club and Storm Along Bay.

I'm so excited about the Poly, this will be a new resort to us. I just hope that the monorail is running by the time they open.

Joining in!

Welcome! Thanks for following along.

 

[Where'sPiglet?]

At least the TTC is quite close if the monorail station is still closed. Also, Poly has a zippy little boat that goes to the MK. I actually prefer it to the monorail!

 

[becauseimnew]

At least the TTC is quite close if the monorail station is still closed. Also, Poly has a zippy little boat that goes to the MK. I actually prefer it to the monorail!

Oh yeah, the boat. I totally forgot about that. I'm so excited.

 

[becauseimnew]

Food Plans: We like to do one TS meal every day and one QS meal. I prefer to have our lunch be the TS - to get out of the heat.

Saturday: We arrived around 12:30 via SW (we have lots of SW points and the Companion Pass), our friends arrive 30 minutes after we do - they fly AA. I think we'll grab some Chick-fil-a while we wait for the our friends. That was the easy decision, I'm really torn on dinner. I'm thinking we'll arrive at YC around 2PM - the kids will want to jump in the pool ASAP then we'll have dinner around 6:30. What do we do for dinner? Keep it easy and just have dinner at Ale & Compass; go fancy and head over to Topolino's Terrace? or go to Disney Springs to do some light shopping and dinner at Polite Pig?

Sunday: Magic Kingdom - Be our Guest or Cinderella's Castle? Can you believe we've never had a meal at Cinderella's Castle, so maybe this is the trip? We've done the QS and TS at BoG, but I see that they only do TS now. I was looking at prices and both places are the same price - we really should have done CRT before our girls turned 10 to save some money. Which do you all prefer CRT or BoG? For our QS we'll do Peco's Bill - but I'm guessing it isn't the same, do they still have the toppings bar?

Monday: Animal Kingdom - this has somehow become my favorite park. For dinner we'll eat at Satu'li - may favorite QS meal at all of parks. Or maybe we'll just have a light dinner at Nomad Lounge? Can we make a meal at the lounge? For lunch we'll head over to AKL to have lunch at Sanaa, this will be a first for us.

Tuesday: Hollywood Studios - I'm thinking we try Docking Bay 7 for our QS ton his day. For dinner I plan to actually head over to Epcot, I'm thinking Via Napoli?

Wednesday: Rest Day - Today is a rest day. My goal is to get us a reservation at Beaches & Cream - I will need to make 2 reservations for this, this will be the first reservation I try to make. For dinner we'll head over to Disney Springs - My plan is Homecomin'. Or do we try to do Topolino's for a late breakfast? This would be our only Character Meal.

Thursday: Hollywood Studios - Sci-fi for lunch - for this I'll split up our group again and this will be the second reservation I make. We transfer over to the Poly on this day - so I think we'll have a QS at the Poly. We'll probably head to MK in the evening.

Friday: Magic Kingdom I need recommendations for this day. Do we just go back to the Poly for a light QS meal? For our TS meal I'm really hoping that Artist Point is open by August, but if not maybe we'll just do a QS at MK. What's your favorite QS meal at MK? Besides Peco's Bill? Any other TS recommendations?

Saturday/checkout day Animal Kingdom - since our friends will be flying home on this day we'll just have to split up. I'll let our friends decide on their park, they might just want to hit MK one more time since it's so close to our resort. We will head to AK will probably try to spend all day there - I haven't decided if we are going to switch over to Cabana Bay that night or spend the night at the Swan - we have a free night certificate that needs to be used. I would like to save some money but it just sounds like a lot of hotel changes. We'll probably do Yak & Yeti for lunch on this day.

Sunday - Volcano Bay - Spend the day at Volcano Bay - not sure what we'll do for food. I would love to have a Doordash delivery - I wonder if that's possible - if not we could just walk over to our room since we'll be staying at Cabana Bay.

And those are our meal plans - gosh that feels like such a short trip! I need more time.

 

[Where'sPiglet?]

For your first day, I'd skip the TS so you have flexibility after traveling. Then, if there are delays or you're more tired than expected, you're not locked in to a meal reservation. I'm not sure if Hurricane Hanna's is open, but they had a chicken sandwich that was quite good pre-Covid. It's also very convenient to the pool. Also, The Market at Ale & Compass and the Beach Club Marketplace also have some QS options.

At Magic Kingdom, I like Pinocchio's Village Haus because I like to try to sit by Small World. I usually just get the chicken strips. I also like Cosmic Rays for the entertainment. Sonny Eclipse is punny. The food at both is pretty basic, but I like the atmosphere. I know a lot of people rave about Columbia Harbour House, and I thought I read it was closed, but the food is available at Tomorrowland Terrace during Covid Time.

 

[Missingmypooh]

Do CRT if the characters are back. What memorable pictures to look at years later!

for your Friday, I understand wanting to go back to the Poly, but would you go back for fireworks (assuming their open?) or do that on Sunday MK day?
If that’s there last day (possible ever!) hopefully you can make it to artist point, but a full day at MK isn’t a bad choice either.

 

[becauseimnew]

Hey everyone!

Still not much to update on our Disney Trip.

But have I mentioned we have a Universal Studio's Trip coming in mid-June?
We have 4 nights booked at Royal Pacific Resort - I haven't nailed down Universal plans either. I think I'm going to change our reservations to 2 nights at RPR followed by 2 nights at Cabana Bay. Currently we fly out Saturday afternoon, but I noticed that SW has been making changes to their schedules about 3 months out. Unfortunately the weekend we plan to go they haven't modified their flight schedule. Currently the latest departure is at 2:50PM on Friday, but the weekend before our trip the latest departure is 6:40PM. I'm hoping that they'll adjust the schedule so that we can leave Friday evening - stay at the Hyatt at MCO then checkin to RPR Saturday morning.

This trip is mostly for Volcano Bay - we went in May 2017 and DH LOVED it.

I'm thinking we'll checkin Saturday - start of at IoA see where the day takes us.
Sunday - start at VB. I booked us a premium seat for the day, I don't know if I'll keep it I'm waiting to some summer reports before I make a final decision. The price for Sunday was $69.99.
Monday - we'll check out of PRP, will they move our stuff over to Cabana Bay? Does anyone have any more information on how it works at USO? Is it the same as Disney World? After checking out we'll hit Universal Studios/IoA.
Tuesday - Start at VB again - another premium seat reservation ($59.99), again don't know if we'll keep it.
Wednesday - check out, hit the parks until we have to head to the airport.

But I'm also considering shortening our trip by a day - depart Tuesday - specially if we arrive Friday night. Then everything will change.
Saturday - VB
Sunday - IoA
Monday - VB
Tuesday - checkout - IoA
We'll have 3 park military passes - basically they are Annual Passes without the benefits or blackout days. If we use 1 or 30 days it doesn't make a difference on the price so I'm not really sure what I want to do. Hopefully when I make final plans I won't have to wait on hold for 3 hours to make changes, that's how long I was on hold to make premium seats reservations.

Any thoughts on my plans? Advice? Food recommendations?